Just Listen
by SynfulRegrets
Summary: UNDER CONSTRUCTION Kaoru is used to doing things by herself and being independent. Kenshin is recovering from a traumatic experience and finds himself relocating to a small town. Neither knew what starting a friendship would do to them but as they begin opening up, they find themselves craving for something more.


Disclaimer: I don't own it.

AN: Completing this story has been a difficult journey for me. Originally I was going to just edit everything that I had already posted but I found that I was not okay with that so I found myself rewriting the entire story. While the plot is still very much the same, there are some changes that I had to make so that I could complete this. I hope that anyone who loved it before I made the changes that I have made is still willing to see this through to the end with me. If not, well, I am sorry that I could not finish the story that you loved/liked.

* * *

**Just Listen  
**By SynfulRegrets

* * *

If you asked her when it all started, Kaoru would not be able to tell you the specific time. A part of her had always liked going against the stream, defying the odds and pushing the limits. She was not a bad person but rather one that never wanted to settle, never wanted to accept that she had to like what everyone else around her did.

Yes, she did enjoy some things, she did have some friends, but she rarely found herself bonding with the people her age. If she had to be friendly, she could be friendly but most times she kept her distance as much as everyone else avoided her. It was not like it hurt her, made her want to break down and cry because she did not find herself enjoying her time in school being social and experiencing the high school life like it was depicted in movies and shows.

No, reality was much better, much sweeter than any thought up misconception that others imagined kids her age went through.

Some would say that she did not get the chance to really live out the happy times of school life, but she would disagree. Kaoru lived her life like she wanted to, did the things that she knew she enjoyed and did not feel the pressure of pleasing others to feel self satisfaction. Instead she spent her time studying so she could go to the college she wanted to, spent her free time finding new music that would push the limits of her own comfort zone and would enjoy the feel of riding around on her bike. It was those small moments of freedom that really gave her a sort of peace and happiness that nothing else had ever before.

The best part was that she knew that once she went out into the big scary world, the moments would be felt on a grander scale. They would not happen right away and she was okay with that but deep down she knew that the moments she loved dearly would still sneak up on her. She knew that when they came all she would have to do was breathe it in deeply, feel the excitement bubble up and just smile. Doing more than smiling would break the moment and wanted to experience them as long as she possibly could.

Until then, she would have to live in the small town she lived in all her life and wait. It would be worth it so long as she could accomplish her dreams.

Kaoru made it to her friend's restaurant, the Akabeko, and secured her bike outside. After a day of school, filled with endless gossip about some new people coming into town, she found herself walking into what she considered her second home. It was a modest restaurant that served great food and had a welcoming atmosphere. She always found that Tae was more than happy to see her show up and spend time with Tsubame, a relative of Tae's that had recently come into her life after Tsubame's parents died. Kaoru did not know if Tsubame was going to move into the home of another relative but she was more than willing to spend some time with the twelve year old child.

"Hey Kaoru. The usual?"

Kaoru smiled and nodded her head. She did not know why Tae always asked her what she wanted since she ordered the same thing but it was nice of her. As Tae walked away, Tsubame poked her head out of the back and walked over to Kaoru.

"Hey."

Tsubame sat down across from Kaoru and gave a small wave as a greeting. It was still a challenge to get her to talk freely, but Kaoru was making progress with the girl. After the whole ordeal with her parents, it had been difficult to get Tsubame to say much but now she was expressing herself more than ever and it made Tae happy. Kaoru also found herself getting happy when they would hold lengthy conversations about anything Tsubame was learning in school or what she felt about certain things. It essentially felt like Kaoru and Tae were working together to have Tsubame come to life again and it was rewarding in ways that words could not express.

Kaoru and Tsubame both pulled out their homework and got to studying. Sometimes Kaoru would slide over her iPod and let Tsubame listen to music. It had been one of the ways that the girl had warmed up to her quickly. Most people asked Tsubame questions and ended up frustrated when she did not respond to them. Kaoru had used music as her way of getting close to the child and kept the questions to a minimum. Tsubame seemed to appreciate it and Tae attacked Kaoru with a hug the first time they saw Tsubame smile on her own.

"Any new music?"

"Hm. That depends on what you want to hear today." Kaoru rummaged around for her headphones that had disappeared to the bottom of her bag on her ride to the restaurant. "I found some music that you might not like since it's a bit out there."

Tsubame gave her a look like she was tempted to agree but held back. Kaoru smiled and knew she would not like it but she was willingly to let Tsubame figure that out for herself.

"Here. Give it a shot. But keep in mind that it's progressive music."

"Okay."

Tsubame took the offered iPod and headphones and placed the buds in her ears. Her eyes widened and Kaoru found herself trying not to smile. It was difficult but the reaction was priceless.

A few minutes later and after an assortment of confused expressions, Tsubame offered the iPod back as a sign of defeat.

"Maybe when I'm older it will make more sense."

Kaoru nodded her head and the two went back to finishing up their homework. They knew as soon as they finished they could talk more and have a good time. If they did not finish or found themselves getting too distracted, Tae would show up and separate the two like she had in the past. When Kaoru found Tae giving her the stern mother look, she always found herself feeling like she was a six year old child being scolded for being bad and told to go sit in the corner. After the first few times it had happened, Kaoru made it her goal to keep Tae away. Feeling she had done something wrong never sat well with her so she strived to be the good role model. Plus, Kaoru had a favorite table and did not like it when she was forced to move to another.

An hour had passed, Kaoru had devoured the meal that Tae set before her and all of her homework was done. Tsubame had finished before her and was left waiting for her to finish. Kaoru joked that Tsubame should cut her some slack since she lost time when eating but that only made Tsubame resort to making faces at Kaoru, which resulted in their table being the loudest in the restaurant.

"Done! Now tell me something good."

It was a game of theirs that they played. Once they had all other distractions pushed to the side, they settled into their routine of saying something good that happened to them that day. While it had seemed silly to do it at first, Kaoru found that it helped bring Tsubame out of her shell. It also did not hurt that it made her feel good when she thought back on her day. There were times when she had horrible days, where people in school were not the nicest but if she found herself playing back the day and settled on thinking about the good points, everything got better and her stress levels decreased.

"I got the highest grade in my class today."

Kaoru gave Tsubame a high five. It always made her happy to know that Tsubame was putting an effort into her studies and having fun while doing so. She also knew that if Tsubame kept it up, she could would be the top student in her grade. If she accomplished that, then maybe she could find something she really loved and try to build her own life in memory of her parents.

"I'm so proud. Okay, my turn." Kaoru reflected on her day and smiled. "I went down the big hill in town without flipping over."

Tsubame's eyes widened.

"You said you wouldn't do that anymore!"

Kaoru shrugged but she was happy. Tsubame looked concerned since the last time Kaoru had attempted to go down the hill on her bike, she had flipped over and found herself in the hospital getting stitches and sporting some ugly looking bruises.

"No pain, no gain."

Tsubame looked sad for a moment. "Don't do anything crazy."

Instantly Kaoru's high of conquering a feat she had been trying to for a while plummeted. "Hey. That will be the last time I do it, okay?" She reached over and put her hand over Tsubame's. Of course the child would be scared for Kaoru after an accident had taken her parents from her. "Besides, now that I've beaten it, there is no more thrill to doing it again." Kaoru tried to reassure the girl that she would give up the hill while hoping she could forgive herself for being stupid enough to forget why Tsubame would be scared for her.

"Promise me Kaoru."

Kaoru nodded. "I promise so don't worry."

Tsubame looked up at Kaoru and smiled. It was obvious from the way that her tense shoulders relaxed instantly and the sad look disappeared from her face that Tsubame really cared about Kaoru's well being and Kaoru loved it. She would not admit this often but Kaoru found herself thinking of Tsubame as her long lost sister and wanted to make sure that she was okay at all times.

Kaoru changed the subject and the two spent the rest of the night talking about random things and having a good time laughing. When Kaoru looked outside a window, she realized that it was late and looked at the time. It was past eight in the evening and she knew she had to say goodbye before she would have to call her sister for a ride.

"It's getting late. I think I have to go now."

They both got up and Tsubame gave her a tight hug. Kaoru hugged her back just a tightly. Tae saw the two saying goodbye and went over to say her own goodbye.

"I'll see you both tomorrow."

Kaoru found herself waving once more before the door closed and was hit with the cold November air. She zipped up her jacket, wrapped her scarf around her face and took a deep breath as she seated herself on her bike. It was going to be a cold bike ride home but she knew that no matter how cold it would be, or how she would have to suffer through not feeling her hands for more than thirty minutes, it would be a better fate than experiencing her sister Megumi's pedal to the floor driving.

* * *

Even though Kaoru was not that exhausted the night before, she found that she had slept through her alarm. Unfortunately, Megumi had decided to be her alarm clock and barged into her room. Kaoru heard the door open and wanted to yell at Megumi to get out but she found that she could do nothing more than curl up tighter when her sister pulled the hibernation inducing blankets off her curled up body. To make matters worse, Megumi leaned down and screamed that she was going to be late right into her left ear.

The wake up call did not end there. When Kaoru refused to move, for fear that if she moved the cold air would turn her into a human popsicle, Megumi retaliated to her reluctance and yanked her off the bed. Now, Kaoru knew that Megumi was never the abusive or even physical type but there were times that in the morning, Kaoru could honestly say that Megumi was possessed by a demon. The kind of strength that her sister showed off was something to be marveled at since the only workout Megumi did was walk around in heels all day. Then there were the bruises that Kaoru would sport if she got on her sister's bad side that would also be proof of the demon residing inside. Sadly enough, before Kaoru could find the strength or motivation to do anything else but groan out in pain and frustration, Megumi was already out of the room and back in the bathroom getting ready.

Kaoru merely glared at how fast Megumi could be.

Instead of wasting more time on her plans of how she would get Megumi back, she had already spent too much time on that subject in her life for it to be healthy, she knew that she had to get ready when her still blurry vision landed on the alarm clock. With only ten minutes to get ready and out the door, Kaoru was rushing to her closet, pulling out a random long sleeve shirt, a hoodie and reaching for her favorite pair of winter boots. Once she had the top half covered, she rushed to her dresser, pulled out pants, knee high socks and grabbed her scarf that sat on top.

Kaoru grabbed her brush, ran it through her hair quickly, which resulted in her yelling ouch a few times as her brush encountered some stubborn knots. She looked at the time again and quickly brushed out as many of the knots as possible before putting her hair up into her signature pony tail. She did not have the time to let her anger get the best of her so she said to hell with looking as presentable as she usually did.

She grabbed her supplies for class, stuffed them in her bag and slipped her iPod in her back pocket. When she opened the door, she collided with Megumi but both were too busy to do more than apologize and keep going. As she made it to the downstairs bathroom, a fate that she would always have to live with since the one she was supposed to share with Megumi belonged solely to Megumi, she quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth. Once she finished, she made it to the kitchen and popped in some bread into the toaster. She knew there was not enough time to eat a proper breakfast but going without eating something always made her feel slow during the morning.

Megumi walked in just as her toast was ready and she heard the disappointment coming from her older sister. As she looked back at Megumi, she saw her shake her head before setting up a bowl of cereal.

"See you later."

Kaoru was out the door before she forced herself to live through more of the disappointed stares her sister always sent her way. Even though Megumi stopped trying to give her a make over, she always looked down on her lack of fashionable style. Kaoru found it completely ridiculous since she actually did not dress bad but to her popular and amazing sister, it was a shame that Kaoru did not bring out her outer beauty more with make up and the right outfit.

Of course when Kaoru disagreed with Megumi, they would always end up arguing. Megumi would say that it was not a bad idea to try being pretty on the outside while Kaoru countered with wanting to be pretty one the inside more. They never agreed on which way was better so they tried to not talk about it but it would creep up to the surface when Megumi would give her a look. She did not know why it bothered her so much, but it did and she felt bad that they were not as close as they used to be, but Kaoru would not budge.

She had finished the last of her toast while waiting at a light and made it to school just as the first bell rang. She had seen a crowd forming around the office but did not go venture to see what all the commotion was about. Instead she was locking up her bike as quickly as she could so she did not have to get into trouble for being late to class again. Her teacher was threatening knocking some points off her grade if she kept showing up late.

Just as she had rounded a corner, she smacked into two people. Due to her not paying attention and basically walking into two people who were the equivalent of a brick wall, she found herself landing straight on her ass. It hurt and she was about to complain thinking it was one of the random students she was used to seeing but found herself keeping her mouth shut when she saw a hand placed in front of her vision. As she looked up, she saw that it was someone new, maybe one of the new people who moved into town that everyone was talking about the day before, and took his offered hand.

The last thing she wanted to do was get off on the wrong foot with someone she had never met. Adding to the rumors of what everyone considered a bad personality was not on her list of things to do so early in the morning.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention."

The guy pulled her up easily and smiled. "It's not a problem."

She pulled her hand away and smiled in return, trying to be as friendly as she could be while counting down the amount of time she had before she was late. A part of her wondered what the chances were that the new people did not find her stranger if she started running to class? Maybe they would think that she was crazy or that she did not like them instead of realizing that she had a problem with being tardy to her first class?

"Well, I have to go. Class is about to begin."

She tried to walk away slowly, hoping that if she got to a certain distance they would not notice her start her run, but stopped when she heard one of them approach her.

"Ano, do you know where this class is?"

It was a girl and she seemed to be about Kaoru's age, maybe a year younger. She also asked nicely so Kaoru figured these new people were not that bad. Well, not as bad as she was expecting. Most people who moved in to the little dot on the map either looked mad to be there or were trying to show that they would be in charge. It was an odd thing to witness.

"Walk straight ahead and it should be the building on the left. I think it's the third door on the right." Kaoru answered quickly and in the nicest tone she could muster, hoping it was hiding her inner anxiety. Just as she began to part ways again, Kaoru stopped and looked at all three of them. "Also, good luck today. You're going to need it."

The girl smiled at her and said thanks before walking back to the two men she was with. Kaoru heard the bell, tensed up and then cursed. She did not care if the new kids heard her or not, but she was late and her teacher was going to give her hell for it.

First Megumi and now a teacher. The mornings was in fact evil.

* * *

After a girl had run into their backs, Kenshin and Aoshi resumed their task of memorizing the layout of the school grounds. Misao had asked the girl where her class was and stuck her tongue out at the other two before walking away.

Kenshin had found himself trying not to smile after the girl he had helped up cursed and ran full speed ahead towards the nearest building. Though she had run into them and apologized, she did not seem to react like the other students in the school. She really did seem to have run into them by accident and did not stare at them like a new toy just waiting to be played with. It was also different to hear that she wished them luck today. He had to wonder if she knew something they three were not privy to? If so, then maybe her warning should not be taken lightly like he originally thought.

Yet, even as he dreaded what the warning was a foreshadow of, Kenshin knew he needed to be here, away from certain things. If it had not been for some of his past actions, some events may have never occurred, which would have meant that this relocation would never have happened. Living in the what if world was not a smart thing to do, especially since there was so much he wished never happened not only to himself but to others, but he could not stop his mind from wandering.

Having to move was his punishment and one that he was willing to deal with so long as it was a quiet enough town. His father had chosen the place knowing full well that no one they knew would live here, but that also meant that they knew nothing about the town. It essentially was a clean slate and while that was appealing, he, Misao and Aoshi would still need to be on guard. Apart from being found out, he also had to find a way to recover and control his bursts of uncontrollable anger. The spells of anger did not occur often but when they did, he found that he would lose control and could hurt anyone around him, even if he cared about them.

This new condition had been a side effect caused by the injuries he had sustained.

Now he had to find a way to live with them or past events would end up repeating themselves in worse ways than before.

Still, if he had to learn to practice self control, he wished that the whispers of him being a girl would stop. Yes, he had long hair but that did not make him a woman. A few more things were said in the crowd watching them earlier but the woman comment stuck with him the most. He heard a few things about Aoshi being a target amongst the female population and wondered just how Misao would take it but decided not to bring it up so early. If they ended up arguing on their first day, it would not do well for their attempt to meld in with the rest of the students.

The first class, called homeroom for some odd reason, had him introducing to the class. Public speaking was not his forte, especially when people began to ask questions about his past. Lying would be the easiest route to take but he had to make sure that he remembered everything he said and then hope Misao did not blab out something that contradicted his story. Keeping a neutral expression was difficult as more and more questions were asked but he was rescued when the teacher intervened by stopping the class. He instructed the class to take out the subject material that they needed help with and get into groups.

People asked other questions when Kenshin was seated but they were stopped each time by the teacher.

Kenshin took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. That girl was right to wish them luck. He was going to need every bit of it if he hoped to survive the day.

* * *

By lunch time Kenshin resorted to biting his lip to keep from telling the truth just so he could be excused from the class for causing a disruption. Misao had sent him a few texts telling him to keep breathing and try not to choke anyone but that did not help much. Even Aoshi joined in but Kenshin found his message humorous when Aoshi thanked Jiraiya for getting him to love meditating as much as he did. It was surprising to know that all the attention was getting to the usually silent man.

A few people had tried to touch his hair but he quickly stopped them. He tried not to be rude about it at first but the last person who made the attempt now sported a bruised wrist. It puzzled him as to why so many people were fascinated by his hair but he was not about to let random strangers get their hands on it. In his mind, he imagined Hiko laughing at him and reminding him that it would have been smart to cut it before attending the first day of school. Just imagining the smug bastard put Kenshin into an extremely sour mood.

As he made his way around the cafeteria, all the while being hounded by some people, he found that he was at his limit. Misao and Aoshi had a different lunch so he was forced to fend for himself, which left him with the only option of running away from the masses. No one followed him once he was outside the protection of the school's heater so he was grateful to know that people stayed away because of the cold.

Kenshin searched for a place far enough away from the building so no one could find him if they were daring enough. Just as he was about to sit down, the girl from before walked by him. She looked at him, raised her eyebrow but did not say anything. He watched her walk away only to see her come back.

"This spot is too windy and cold."

Kenshin was expecting her to ask some questions like the rest of her classmates but once again he was surprised by her. Instead, she had decided to give him another warning like this morning.

"Where should I sit then?"

She looked at him, his clothes and then looked back behind her. "You're dressed for the cold, but not for the wind so try the other side. I have a spot over there and I know that there are few others that offer more shelter." Kenshin gave her a look and she caught on to the meaning behind it. "I'm not saying that you should sit with me but you shouldn't have to freeze on your first day."

With that said, she walked away from him not waiting to see if he was following her. It was strange to him that she was being as nice as she was but so far she had no lied to him, nor had she been annoying so he figured that he could trust her enough to give her suggestion a try. As he picked up his things and followed, he saw that the girl had thrown her things at one end, which was blocked by a portable building. She saw him and pointed to the spots she had mentioned and Kenshin picked his spot.

When he sat down, he found that she was right yet again. He tried not to smile as he found himself thinking of her as his guardian angel on his first day. She had helped him twice already and even though she had collided into him, she did not seem like a mean person.

His good mood vanished as he took a bite out of the cafeteria food. To say that it was gross would not be enough of an insult and as he spit it out, he heard laughter come from the girl. Her laughter died when he laid his eyes on her but she smiled at him.

"I probably should have warned you about the food too."

Kenshin kicked the plate of food away with his foot and proceeded to glare at it.

"If you stare at it long enough, it'll start to move."

He was surprised to find himself laughing at her small joke. It was the first time that day that he was not bothered that someone was talking to him.

"So I should start bringing lunch from now on?"

"Only if you want to live."

Just as he was about to get up, she waved him over. He did not know what she wanted but he was not about to walk away from the only person who was decent to him today. As he reached her, he found that she had pulled some things out of her bag before pulling out a bag.

"I packed too much last night. You can have them if you want."

What she was offering him was food that she had originally packed for herself. Kenshin wanted to say that he was fine but just as he was about to decline her generous offer, his stomach growled. She tried not to laugh but she was terrible at hiding it, even as she looked away for his benefit. That was how he found himself sitting next to her, eating the parts of her lunch that she did not want and enjoying being around someone he barely knew.

They sat next to each other for ten minutes, him enjoying his food and her enjoying her music. It was not that it was loud, but in the silence that was the farthest part of the school grounds, her music was filling up the silence. He was about to ask her why she was not asking him any questions but she looked at him then. Neither of them said anything, but she seemed to blush lightly before looking down then back up at him. He thought she looked beautiful but killed the thought immediately after it sprung up. Finding someone beautiful was the last thing he needed to be thinking about.

"Do you want to listen?"

Out of all the questions that he was asked so far, that had been the only one that did not require him to make up some story. He also found himself saying yes to her and moving closer so that they could both listen. As he placed the ear bud in, he found that they were listening to Deadmau5. He looked down at her as she looked up at him.

"Is this okay? Do you need something more relaxing?"

More relaxing? Kenshin wondered if that was what he needed, relaxing music to make it through the day. That could help him with his stress and anger.

"No. I like this."

They did not say anything else to each other, content with listening to the music and being away from everyone else. When the bell rang, both of them put their things away but this time Kaoru offered her hand out to Kenshin. He figured this was another way of her saying sorry for this morning. As he got to his feet with her help, he found that he wanted to at least say thanks but did not know her name.

"What's your name?"

She actually looked surprised but smiled at him. "I'm Kaoru." Just as he was going to say thanks, she turned around and walked away. He called out his thanks regardless if she heard him or not but as he saw her wave her acknowledgment without looking back, he knew she heard him.

* * *

When Misao found herself in her last class, her art class, she was happy. People had asked a lot of questions, some of which made her a little angry because they assumed she was doing inappropriate things with Aoshi and Kenshin, but it was not as bad as she was expecting. Since she did not hear anything bad from Kenshin, she figured that he was fairing as well as could be expected but she was surprised that Aoshi looked annoyed.

To take her mind off the day's stress she was in the process of drawing up a comic strip. It always eased her mind when she sat down with her sketch pad and escaped reality through her artwork. The fact that her Aoshi-sama sat next to her during the period also did wonders to lift her spirits. While she excelled at comic book style art, he was better at realistic art. It was astounding to her that he could capture the softness of people so easily while her attempts to do the same always failed. After some time she figured that he was so good at his style because the degree that he observed and took in the world was vastly different than the degree that she did.

Still, she did not give up and still tried her hand at the style he excelled at. Most times she found herself wallowing in self pity and a state of depression but Aoshi would always show up and encourage her to keep trying if she really wanted to get better. He never made fun of her or made her feel inadequate because she was not as good as he was, but instead he did his best to lift her spirits and always praised her own art style.

Misao would always ask him why he never tried to do any comic strips or artwork of that sort but he would always tell her the same thing, that his imagination was not as great as hers. She honestly did not believe that since she knew him to have a great imagination but she never pushed the matter.

The teacher, who was actually quite odd in Misao's opinion, explained that tomorrow she would give them an end of the year project that they could complete either alone on with a partner. Misao was tempted to ask Aoshi to partner up with her but she did not know what they could possibly do to successfully merge their two styles.

"Ninjas?"

Misao looked up to find Aoshi's stare locked on her work. She noted that he looked more relaxed now compared to the beginning of the period and smiled up at him.

"I have a soft spot for them."

The corner of his mouth turned up just a little and she resisted the urge to hug him. While they had promised to always remain friends since they were little, their relationship had evolved into something more. Neither of them had asked the other about it, but both were fully aware of what was going on. It started about a year ago when Misao had won an art contest that Aoshi had helped her on. To celebrate, he had taken her out to dinner and halfway through the meal she found herself reaching out for his hand. Usually he would pull away but that time was different as she felt his thumb lightly carress her hand. Though it was the simplest of touches, Misao found that her heart began to beat faster. They finished their meal and left the restaurant but Misao reached out again for his hand as he drove them home only to find that he had already offered it to her.

It was true that she had always loved Aoshi and considered him not only one of her best friends but also part of her family. What she was not aware of was when that degree of love went from friendship to something more. At first it had scared her, fearing that she would lose him if she said anything, but as time passed she found that he was slowly showing her his feelings. Every time he did, she would always fight the urge to jump around and scream just how happy she was to the world.

Though some people always said that Aoshi was a cold man that never showed any expressions or feelings, she completely disagreed. Yes, he could be stoic but there were times where the smallest of movements or gestures would give away that he really, really cared. Misao lived for those moments. But the only thing greater than those moments were the ones where he gave something away that he was not aware that he had. Some of their friends from back home could bring that out of him and she was finding that she too could do the same.

"I'll show you the whole story when we get home. You'll love it!"

In her excitement, she did not realize how loud she was being and got a stern look from her teacher. Misao ducked down behind her desk as far as she could and got back to her work.

Most of the period went by and the bell was about to ring when Aoshi pushed over a slip of paper to her side of the table. She looked over at it and found that he had drawn her a rose. It was simple and there was no color to it since he was not too fond of carrying around his paints for a whole day but she loved it.

When Aoshi did small things just for her, Misao found it incredibly difficult to not smile like a crazy person.

* * *

In the past, Kenshin had found that being paired up with someone in class only caused him trouble. That usually resulted in him doing all the work while his partner did nothing but reap the benefits from his hard work. As his last class started, he found himself being partnered up and tried to calm himself down. If he was once again put into the situation where he had to do all of the work so that he could keep his grades up, he was going to throw a desk out of the window.

Fortunately for the class and the classroom's window, he found himself paired up with the smartest person. While he was still skeptical, the teacher reassured him that since she did not know what he had learned, he would be pairing him and the girl, Megumi, up for the group projects until the teacher had a better reading on him. Kenshin wanted to tell the man that he knew everything they were going over but stopped himself knowing that the teacher would not budge.

Still, he was relieved to find out Megumi pulled her own weight on the project. She was quick to find the answers if she did not know them off the top of her head and even did half of the short answer questions to lighten his load. What he did not like about being partnered with her was that she was too flirty.

He was not a stranger to getting compliments or being hit on from time to time but what Megumi was doing was making him blush out of embarrassment for her. Unfortunately, she took his blush as a sign that he liked her and she continued. Every time he wanted to tell her to stop, she would interrupt him and make more outrageous comments.

His attempt to move away from her only made her move closer to him. He figured that she was thinking this was a game of sorts, maybe a game of cat and mouse? It felt too weird and he was about to snap when the teacher told everyone to return to their original seats and turn in their work for the day.

Just as the class got situated again, all of them waiting for the end of class to come, the door opened and Kaoru walked in. Kenshin noted that she was listening to her music again and wished that he could join her again just to calm down enough to make it through the last few minutes. After she handed the teacher a few slips of paper, she looked over and saw him staring at her but instead of looking away, she held his stare. That was when he heard some of the guys in class start to warn him that if stared at her any longer, she would steal his soul.

They were being stupid and he knew it so he decided to not listen to them. He held her stare and when the comments turned from warnings to insults, Kaoru looked away to someone else. He did not know which student she looked to but he noticed that Megumi stiffened in her seat. For just one moment, Kaoru actually looked sad and Kenshin wanted to know what prompted it.

When the teacher scolded the students, the classroom became quiet again and Kaoru took a piece of paper that his teacher offered her and walked to the door. She looked back to Kenshin and gave him a small smile before she left.

Kenshin found himself smiling back, only to wipe it away when people looked back at him.

* * *

Kaoru was unlocking her bike when she found a shadow looming on her. As she looked up, she found Sano looking down at her with a lazy smile. She got up and put away her lock as he reached out and gave her a head rub. Her protests did nothing to get anyone to rush to her aid but they did get stares. Plenty of odd stares.

"Hey Sano."

Kaoru was not happy that he always greeted her that way, especially since she always had to fix her hair. Yet as much as she wanted to complain about his greeting skills, she liked that he did what he did. It was their thing, even if it did give Kaoru a headache at times.

"Hey Jou-chan. How's your sister been recently?"

Sano was a really good guy even though his reputation lead everyone to believe he was a thug. Her sister was thought to be crazy when she announced that she was dating Sano but as soon as Kaoru met him in person and saw that lazy smile of his, she knew Megumi had made a great choice. In fact, it took them all of two minutes to become good friends while Megumi was in the bathroom. He had heard various things about her and she really had to wonder when everyone would stop making things up about her. Still, he asked her if any of it was real and she responded by stringing random words together before announcing that he was cursed in this life and the next to always want to pet penguins. He laughed so hard at that, that it made her laugh as well and they had easily become friends. He even went a step further and offered to help her if she were to ever need assistance with any classmates before leaving with Megumi for their date.

"Good. I can tell she misses you every time she looks at her phone."

Sano looked a little disappointed. He was busy with a new job since his father passed away and his mother experienced difficulty getting a job at her age due to not having any work experience. It seemed he was doing his best to keep them afloat and if rumors were true, Sano was also making a name for himself when it came to gambling. Sometimes people said he hit big while other times they mentioned that he was starting to owe some people large amounts of cash. Kaoru did not want to hear about all of the rumors so she avoided it. If she ever saw that Sano was indeed in trouble, she would help him out without a second thought. Until then, the rumors were just that, rumors.

"I'm going to surprise her tonight and show up unannounced. Think you can keep her distracted until I get there?"

Kaoru actually whimpered as she thought about what she had to do. The only way to distract her sister long enough for Sano to have time to make it to their house would mean that she was going to have to ask for a make over. The last time she had done such a thing resulted in Kaoru spending an hour in the shower just to get all of the product off of her hair and body.

"You owe me big time if I'm subjecting myself to a make over!"

Sano smiled and quickly enveloped her into a hug, which Kaoru tried to get out of but stopped struggling when he picked her up off the ground. She always felt tiny when he did that but it was nice to be hugged against her will sometimes. Plus, he did it when she least expected sometimes so she found herself always being on guard.

"You're the best Jou-chan!" He put her down gently then looked around at the people giving them odd looks. He was about to flip them off when he spotted Megumi coming their way. "Okay. See you later!" he called out as he dashed away to his car and to his job.

As Kaoru made it through the traffic jam that happened every day when school let out, she found that she had to stop and wait or risk getting run over and smushed into a pancake. She looked over to her right and found the girl from before and the guy, who she overheard in the bathroom from two girls was named Kenshin, with the other guy all talking and laughing. It seemed to her that their first day was not as bad as she thought it would. That small bit was enough to make her think that maybe her classmates were getting better.

Just as she was about to look away, the girl waved at her and she waved back. Even Kenshin looked at her and waved. He seemed to be telling them about her but just as she saw the girl look her way again with a happy expression, the sound of some guys in a truck blaring their horn and saying mean things to her out of the passenger's side pulled her attention away. Any bit of hope she had was easily destroyed as she flipped them off and went the other way, towards her home.

She was going to have to call Tae and let her know that she was not going to be able to go over and spend time with her and Tsubame today.

Owing Sano a favor was really messing with her plans.


End file.
